Reflections
by Stargazing Writer
Summary: Jesse travels to the Portal Network, in hopes of finding Petra. On the way, she reflects on their friendship and comes across a unlikely guide. [One-shot, might become a story]


**Author's Note:** _This thing seemed so much longer in my notebook!__Because my brain won't stop making new ideas for stories, here is an excerpt of a thing I'm planning to write (unknown when). I had this idea for a while now and it wouldn't stop bugging me, so I sat at school and wrote it down.__Takes place 1 year after the end of season 2. I don't garraunty that this will be an actual story, so feel free to make a story of your own based on this concept.__Enjoy ;-) _

* * *

**Reflections**

_It well may be_

_That we will never meet again_

_In this lifetime._

_So, let me say before we part:_

_So much of me_

_Is made of what I learnt from you._

_You'll be with me_

_Like a handprint on my heart._

_And now whatever way our stories end_

_I know you have rewritten mine_

_By being my friend._

-WICKED, For Good

As Jesse stepped through the egg-shaped portal, she half expected to find herself on the tiny dirt island she and the gang left behind in their first visit in this world. To her relief though, she was nowhere near a floating, now ruined, city in the sky.

Instead, she was on stable ground, some plains under a cloudy sky. Jesse ventured through the few trees standing and looked for any sign of civilization. Conveniently enough, it was close by.

The town, she found in front of her, wasn't much different from her own hometown. Of course, in a way, the new Ground City was much more impressive than Beacontown, considering the abudance of precious, mineral blocks decorating the walls even.

Passing through the gates, that were left open for the day, Jesse's eyes widen, feeling a little surprised by the droplets of rain falling down on her head. It quickly intensified, signifying the beginning of a storm. Sure, it wasn't nowhere near as strong as a thunderstorm.

Jesse walked through the roads of Ground City, hoping to come across any familiar faces, like Milo, Reginald or even Isa. Anyone friendly was good in her book.

Honestly, she didn't know what she was expecting coming here. She seriously expected to find Petra in this world or any world of the Portal Network? Maybe Jesse was taking it too far and she was still back on the Overworld, just further than she thought?

Jesse had even come to the point of thinking she was going desperate. The search had just began, and she was already coming to these kind of thoughts. Truth was, she was missing Petra terribly. She had even missed her snarkiness and short temper. No, she wasn't kidding at all.

At first, the redhead had come as a secretive, loner mercenary sort of thinh who actually liked being solitary. But when the witherstorm happened, she saw that Petra was so much more. She was really their friend, loyal, protective and caring.

Before Jesse even knew it, Petra already liked the gang's company and hanged out with them. With them! Not for the fame, but because they were actual friends. Jesse really appreciated that, and as time passed, they became close pals.

After the adventure with the portal hopping, responsibilities happened. Like a lot of responsibilities. Jesse and the rest of the gang were so busy with around Beacontown, that adventures were few and far inbetween, a rare phenomenon. And before they even realized it, four years passed.

Until the whole thing with the Admin, Jesse hadn't realized how much did her absence hurt Petra.

'_No wonder she wanted to leave..._', Jesse thought sadly, her head hung low.

Now though, it was Petra that mattered. She was the reason Jesse left. And she wouldn't stop till she found Petra.

As Jesse progressed further, she stopped in her tracks, another thought popping in her head: What if Petra didn't want her to come? What if she didn't want to be found? If she wanted to be left alone for good?

A mental argument started.

_'No, don't think like that! Petra will be glad to see you!'__'You really think that will want to see you after everything?'__'When you explain everything to her, she will come back, trust me!'__'She's much better now, without you.'__'Beacontown needs her now, more than ever before. She has to come home...'__'Petra has forgotten about you all.'_

Jesse didn't know how she found herself in the alley. All she knew was that the negative voice in her head was right.

Even if she could find Petra, who was she to just intrude in her life just like that and tell her to come back? Even if she could find her friend, nothing garraunted that she still would consider her a friend?

Jesse had left her friend alone.

Jesse had hurt her.

How could she not get hated for this?

The young woman laid her back on the wall and let herself slide down to the ground. Silent tears leaked from her eyes, mingling with the raindrops.

Even if she could find Petra, this search was pointless.

* * *

Jesse didn't know how much time was she sitting in that alley. She hadn't even realized thar she had cried herself to sleep.

She looked around for a few moments, having momentarily lost her sense of direction. Heck, she had even forgotten that she was in Ground City.

Jesse groggily got to her feet, ready to leave and ask for directions to the exit portal. Since the city was built, it could be anywhere. Unless the residents tore it apart. But that was somewhat unlikely.

She was heading to the other side of the alley when she heard a voice behind her say her name.

"Jesse?"

The voice was sickly familiar. Jesse didn't miss how his voice had matured. She turned her head and spotted the person with her peripheral vision.

"I-is that really you?", he said slowly approaching.

Jesse sighed, not budging from the spot she was standing. "Hello, Aiden.", she replied, surprised at how cold her voice sounded. Honestly, she didn't mean for it to come out that way.

Then again, could she blame herself? Aiden had made her life hell. He had been bullying her and her friends for years, he had tormented the innocent people of this town, and pushed Isa, Lukas and herself off Sky City. If they hadn't fallen in the lake, they could have died!

There is no way Jesse could forgive him for that. Not now, not ever.

On the other side... She hadn't just heard him apologize. She had seen how he pleaded to spare him. Even an idiot could tell that he wasn't just begging for his life on that ledge. Aiden was genuinely sorry. His words had confirmed that.

Given that, was it really likely that he was a better person now? Probablu he had spent most of his time in this world sitting in prison... Now it was Jesse who started feeling sorry for Aiden.

Like that, the two were standing there, lime eyes staring into forest green ones. It was just fifteen seconds that seemed like an eternity to Jesse.

Aiden tried to start talking to ease the tense atmosphere, just to end up closing his mouth. Probably he couldn't find the right words to adress a person who wasn't really on the best terms with him and hadn't seen in five years.

Eventually he settled on something simple and appropriate for the current situation.

"I saw you earlier in the rain... You must be cold. How about... coming over to my place?"

Jesee looked at him blankly for a few moments. Then she drifted her gaze to the ground, shuffling her feet. Just a visit wouldn't cause any harm. Right? She lifted her head a little bit. "Ok. I guess."

"Alright then. Uhm, I live in this small house over there.", Aiden said, gesturing to a simple wood house right opposite of the entrance to the alley.

Just two minutes later, the two were sitting in a table next to the fireplace. Jesse was staring at the crackling sticks and melting coal in the fire, while Aiden made some warm cocoa.

When he came back with two cups, silence still covered the room. After a minute of her tilting her cup back and forth, Jesse decided to start a conversation.

"How you've been pulling out lately?"

"Well... Gill, Maya and I got released from prison just about one and a half year ago. We just settled in Ground City quietly and did what I was thinking of doing this entire time, just write."

Jesse smiled. "Lukas has written some books too."

"You know, we were often making fun of Lukas behind his back because he liked to write. And now", he laughed slightly bitterly. "Here I am."

"Have you... published any?", Jesse asked, just out of curiosity.

"No. I think that the citizens still look at me the wrong way, you know after everything. Many are glaring at me as I pass by and there are others who just pretend I don't exist... People here still hate me, so I'm kinda afraid of showing my works."

At the last sentence, Jesse frowned a bit. Could she really hate Aiden? After everything that happened in the past few years of being hero, time after time, she had always come to the same conclusion: No matter how evil a person might they've been in the past, deep down, they're still humans. They still have fears, insecurities and dreams.

"So, how come you visit Sky- I mean- Ground City?", he asked with his turn.

Jesse thought about it for a few seconds before answering. "I was looking for Petra."

'_Now, I'm not so sure.'_, she thought to herself.

"Petra?"

"Yes. She left about a year ago. I came here in hopes someone has any clue on her whereabouts. Listen, Aiden. It isn't only that I want my friend back. It is very important. Beacontown is in danger now we're speaking, so we need Petra's help."

Aiden's expression became serious. "I saw her."

"What? You-you did?", Jesse questioned, her voice almost trembling.

"Yes, about half a year after they freed me. I came across Petra randomly in the street. We were just talking and she told me about what happened all this time I was away. She also told me why she left."

"She did?", the young woman asked. '_Please, don't say she hates me...'_

"Petra did seem determined to go. Ready for a life of wandering. But... she had some regrets. She told me that she felt a little bad for getting mad at you. Something about realizing that you guys have lives too, anyways something along these lines. But something that she regretted more, was that she never returned to ask sorry."

Jesse almost felt her eyes watery. Petra actually said these?

"Uhh, are you alright? The cat got your tongue?", Aiden joked, though he quickly reconsidered it, thinking that he would get a death glare for that. Luckily for him, she just waved the comment off.

"Thank you, Aiden.", Jesse said lowly getting up. Being honest with herself, those were the three words she never expected she'd put next to each other.

"I'll show you were the exit portal is."

Around a quarter later, there were they. A small cobblestone building, not far from Ground City's main chunk. It was open to the public, still lit and that's what surprised Jesse. While the citizens had the opportunity to leave and explore other worlds, everybody decided to stay, as Aiden explained to her. And that was probably for the best. She knew first hand how dangerous the Portal Network was. And she was about to go there.

"Really, all this time, you could just leave this world and come back to our own, but you opted to stay here. Why?", Jesse wondered.

Aiden rubbed the back of his head. "I... never felt ready to return. I mean, I was, but at the same time, I wasn't."

"I think I know what you mean.", she said, starting to head down the stairs.

Aiden qualmed for a little before speaking again. "Jesse, wait."

Jesse stopped, but didn't turn back to look at him. The tone in his voice gave her an idea of what he wanted to tell her.

"I... I just wanted to tell you that... I'm sorry. For everything that I've done. I haven't been a very good person to you, my own friends, to everyone. All I wanted was... was to be on the spotlight, even if it was for a little bit... I know this makes up for nothing, but I hope that... maybe one day you'll forgive me. I won't blame you if you don't. I was a jerk indeed... Also... tell Petra hello from me when you find her."

He couldn't take it further. He felt like no matter how many words he said, they simply wouldn't be enough to apologise properly. And he was right. There weren't the words to explain everything and gain some kind of forgiveness.

Maybe she would never be able to actually do it.

"Goodbye, Aiden.", these were the last words she told him before entering the portal.

* * *

For the umpteenth time in her life, Jesse found herself in the Portal Network. No matter how many times she did so, she never fully got rid of the awe at how many portals there were. How many worlds...

And Petra could be in any of them right now.

Beacontown depended on them. Her friends counted on them.

Jesse versus the Portal Hallway, round two.

'_Wherever you are, Petra, hang in there. I will find you. We're going home.'_

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**A/N****:** _Hope you liked this, don't be afraid to make constructive critisism or just tell me your opinion on it. I would love to hear what you think :-)__Till the next fanfic!_


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